The Change Has Happened

Finally, the new art blog is rolling. Find updates at: crimsonpainter.wordpress.com/wp-admin/

Hope you like the new posts ... Bobby.

Some things must change ... with time

The title should have also added 'and with new technology.'

Look for changes to this blog after the first of the year. In the meantime, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one and all. May Santa be very good to each of you.

Caught with different art form … National – Read Comics in Public Day, Tuesday, August 28!

As a child my first introduction to reading was sitting with my dad as he read the comics (aka funnies) to me.  In addition to a regional newspaper, our daily newspaper, The Columbian, was an ever present source – the same as it is today. And it’s even under the same family ownership, how amazing!!!

In the newspapers we had access to the worlds of:

·       Beatle Bailey with Sargent Snorkel , Li’l Abner & Daisy Mae (with her revealing outfits), and Gasoline Alley

·       Lulu, Nancy (with Irma and Sluggo)

·       Pogo, Popeye, Felix the Cat, Peanuts, Katzenjammer Kids

·       Buck Rogers, Superman,

·       Smiling Jack (Steve Canyon), Mark Trail (which continues today), Rex Morgan, M.D.

Along with the newspaper comics, I also was allowed to occasionally purchase comic books:

·       Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Scrooge McDuck  etc. from Disney creations

·       Action comics such as: Superman, Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon, Bat Man, Blackhawks, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Captain America and The Lone Ranger

·       Mighty Mouse, Tom & Jerry, Casper, Tubby, Betty Boop, Daffy Duck, Woody Woodpecker, Andy Panda

·       Archie, Nancy, Pink Panther, Mr. Magoo

·       Mouseketeers (had very few issues due to law suit by Disney and change of name to “Mouse Musketeers”)

·       Characters from Hanna-Barbera: Puss ‘n Boot, Quick Draw McGraw, Yogi Bear,

·       Mad Magazine

Not to be forgotten from the list was the collection I was allowed to view at my aunt and uncle’s home. It included political cartoons, pin-ups and war related images. This uncle had served in WWII's Pacific Theater and had brought home many examples.

In later years, after marriage and birth of child, my husband began reading comics and Sunday funnies from the same hometown paper to our daughter. While we didn’t purchase comic books, we did purchase soft-cover books of Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes. Far Side creations by Gary Larson, also a WSU Coug – Washington State University Alum, were also prominent in our home.

Now many of the comic soft-cover books have survived to be passed from our daughter to our grandchildren. Our hope is that this will give them a joy for reading, for seeing more than one scenario or solution to a problem, and for imagining another world.

Join with our family, August 28 for the national Read Comics in Public Day!

For a related article: http://www.wired.com/geekmom/2012/08/comics-in-public/

              

Some days you gotta' test ...

Technology and electronics are great tools for an artist … unless you can’t get them to interact. They were set up, but those settings went away. So please excuse this posting as it is a test. Thanx.

Gadgets help show off art …

I like technology and gadgets – heck, at times I love it. While items can sometimes be challenging to use, they can mostly save time. With that in mind, I realized I didn’t like viewing photographs, especially of paintings, on my smartphone. The viewing area was just too small. So I started looking for a solution to fill my wants (not necessarily a need).

Friends have iPads. And Nooks are available. Another option is a Kindle, but it didn’t have the color I would need whereas the Kindle Fire did. After seeing a demonstration of a KF and comparing costs of gadgets, I made my decision and ordered one.

Now that I’ve had a Kindle Fire for a couple of months, I’m really happy with it. Although, after placing folders* of paintings on it I found that I needed to retitle the folders. Other downloads were getting into the alpha order and the painting folders were harder to find. Solution: Relabeling the folder’s names with an ‘a.’ before the folder title on my main computer, deleting the existing folders from the Kindle, the new folders were ready to be downloaded to the KF. Task done! (Note: new folder titles are now viewed at end of KF downloads.)

Another item I’m placing on the KF is the reference photo for each painting, unless it was a plein air painting. This is due to a situation a couple of years ago where I found a show’s winning entry was a forgery (done in a class and an exact copy of a professional’s painting), notified the organization, but because they didn’t know me – they never asked the artist about the painting. Instead they challenged me regarding my art.

The Kindle Fire has allowed me to share my art with interested artists and potential purchasers. If the KF is updated to more speed or space, I’ll probably check it out.

*FOLDERS (contain low resolution/pixel photos): Animals, Boats & the Sea, Buildings & Architecture, Exhibits ‘n Shows, Flowers, Fruit, Landscapes, People, and Studies (otherwise known as miscellaneous, bad paintings – also known as collage material, etc.).


PS: I do use a case for the KF to protect its surface.